Chelsea can set themselves apart from league rivals with UCL ambition
By George Perry
Chelsea are the last English club to win the Champions League and, of course, the only London club to do so. They are distant long shots this season, but they can still remind their rivals foreign and domestic they remain one of Europe’s elites.
Manchester United joined Tottenham in the ranks of “FA Cup or bust” on Tuesday night, making a dispirited exit from the Champions League. Chelsea must reconnect with their best self to not only avoid a similar result, but the manner of it.
Both Tottenham and United conceded two goals in under five minutes in the respective second halves. For Tottenham, it was a true collapse. They had the lead, they had the away goals. But they lacked the experience with winning that feeds a winning mentality. At least Tottenham has the consolation (or as they call it in north London, “stunning achievement”) of bottling it against the always world-class Juventus.
United bowed out to Sevilla, a Europa League heavyweight but a club that had never previously made it out of the Champions League Round of 16.
Manchester United did not collapse, because they never built anything in their tie. Despite being at Old Trafford coming off a significant Premier League win over Liverpool, United played negatively and did a poor job at that. They lacked structure as well as purpose, and Sevilla pushed United throughout until taking their opportunity to break through. Against the fifth-place team in La Liga (11 points behind fourth), the second-place team in the Premier League needed 174 minutes to score a single goal.
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The biggest line of criticism towards Antonio Conte recently is his seemingly unambitious tactics. His use of the false-nine and his deep-lying formations against Manchester City and Barcelona suggest damage control more than a desire to win. In both games, individual mistakes cost Chelsea a goal. Had the defenders not lapsed and had the opposition not made Chelsea pay, Conte could be a tactical genius instead of a man in the cross-hairs.
Unlike either of those games, though, Chelsea have no option but to play to win at Camp Nou. Chelsea FC should never play for a draw, but it can be an understandable gambit. A scoreless draw in the opening home leg of a Champions League tie is a reasonable result. Chelsea nearly did one better. Now, they need to score at least one goal at Barcelona. And if their hosts score, which they tend to do, Chelsea will need to score at least two goals.
Chelsea must play to win, tactically and psychologically. They can shift to a more protective posture after taking a lead, but they cannot open the game in the bunker with the plan to come out at some later point. Against Barcelona at Camp Nou, you cannot hope for later. You have to play for every minute, and let Ramires and Fernando Torres, er, Willian and Alvaro Morata, finish the job.
If Chelsea are to lose, they have to lose beyond reproach. They have to lose without regrets. And they have to lose in a way that will not heap any more scorn upon the club and the coach. If they cannot better Tottenham’s and Manchester United’s Round of 16 experience, they must at least better their football.
Or, they can simply win. They can simply be Chelsea again. The club who, in the decade since United last won the tournament, has been the Premier League’s most resolute competitor in Europe.
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Advancing over Barcelona while Manchester City canters through Basel, Liverpool struggles with Porto and United and Tottenham watch from home would remind the footballing world that Chelsea belong among Europe’s elite. And it would go a long way to reminding everyone – including these men in Blue – why a top-four finish is no mean goal at this point in the season.